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THE 




REPUBLICAN PARTY; 



ITS ORIGIN, NECESSITY & PERMANENCE. 



SPEECH OF 



Hon. CHARLES SUMNER, '■ 



BEFOllfJ THE 



YOUNG MEN'S REPUBLICAN UNION 

OF NEW- YORK, ^ 

JXJLY 11 til, I860. 






^; 



NEW-YORK : 

J. A. IT. HASBROUCK & CO.. PRINTERS, 180 BROADWAY. 



I860. vj:^ 



THE \^ _J883^^ ^^j 



ITS ORIGIN, NECESSITY AND PERMAKENCK 



SPEECH OF 



Hon. CHAKLES SUMNER, 

BEFORE THE 

YOUNG MEN'S EEPUBLICAN UNION OF NEW-YORK, 

JULY 11th, 18 GO. 



Fellow-Citizens op New York: : — Of 
all men in our history, there arc two whose 
influence at this moment is most peculiar. 
Though dead, they yet live, speak and act 
in the conflict of principle which divides 
the country — standing face to face like two 
well-matched champions. When I add 
that one was from South Carolina, and the 
other from Massachusetts, you will sec at 
once that I mean John C. Calhoun and 
John Quincy Adams. 

Statesmen both of long career, of marked 
ability, and of unblemished integrity — act- 
ing together at first — sitting in the same 
cabinet which they quitted — one to be- 
come Vice-President, and the other Pres- 
ident, then for the remainder of their days 
battling in Congress and dying there — 
each was a leader in life, but each has be- 
come m death a grander leader still. 

Mr. Calhoun possessed an intellect of 
much originality and boldness, and, though 
wanting m the culture of a scholar, made 
himself felt in counsel and in debate. 



To native powers unlike, but not inferior, 
Mr. Adams added the well ripened fruits 
of long experience in foreign lands, and or 
studies more various and complete than 
those of any public man in our history 
besides an indomitable will, and that spirit 
of Preedom which inspired his father 
when in the Continental Congress he so 
eloquently maintained the Declaration of 
Independence, making himself its " Colos- 
sus" on that floor. 

Sitting together in the Cabinet of Mr. 
Munroe.thcy concurred in sanctioning the 
j Prohibition of Slavery in the Missouri 
! Territory as constitutional, and so ad- 
j vised the President. But here the di- 
j vergence probably began — though for a 
lono- time it was not made manifest. The 
diary of Mr. Adams shows that at that 
early day, when slavery had been little 
discussed, he saw its enormity with in- 
stinctive quickness, and described it with 
corresponding force. The record is less 
full with regard to Mr. Calhoun; but 



■when in later life tlicy rc-appcared, one in 
the Senate, and the other in the House of 
Representatives, each openly assumed the 
position by which he -will be known in 
history — one as the leader in all the preten- 
sions of Slavery and of slave -masters, and 
the other as the champion of Freedom 

Mr. Calhoun regarded Slavery as a per- 
manent institution ; Mr. Adams regarded 
it as something transitory Mr. Calhoun 
vaunted it as a form of civilization ; Mr. 
Adams scorned it as an unquestionable 
barbarism. Mr. Calhoun did not hesitate 
to call it the most stable basis for fre 
government; Mr. Adams vehemently de- 
nounced it as a curse, full of weakness 
and mockery and ^doubly offensive in a 
boastful Republic. Mr. Calhoun, not con- 
tent with thus exalting Slavery, proceeded 
to condemn the early opinions of Wash- 
ington and Jefferson as " folly and delu- 
sion." to assail the self-evident truths of 
the Declaration of Independence as " ab- 
surd," and then to proclaim that human 
beings are property under the Constitu 
tion. and as such, may be transported into 
the Territories and there held m Slavery ; 
while Mr Adams added to the glory of his 
long and diversified career, by persistent 
efforts, which are better for his famo than 
having been President — ^upholding the 
gieat rights of petition and of speech , 
vindicating the early opinions of the Fa 
thcrs, and the self-evident truths of the 
Declaration of Independence ; exposing 
the hateful character of Slavery ; insist 
ing upon its prohibiten m the Territories ; 
denying the asserted property m man, 
and especially and often exhibiting the 
unjust power in the National Government, 
usurped by what ho called " the little 
cluster" of slave-masters, whose yoke was 
to him intolerable 

Such, most briefly told, were the antago 



nist opinions of these two chiefs. Never 
was great conflict destined to involvo 
a great country more distinctly foresha- 
dowed All that the Republican party 
now opposes may be found in John C. 
Calhoun. All that the Republican party 
now maintains may be found in John 
Quincy Adams. Choose yc, fellow citi- 
zens, between the two. 

The rule of ' Principles, and not men" 
is hardly applicable to a man whose life 
now bears the sacred seal of death, and 
whose name is the synonym of principle . 
yet I do not hesitate to say that our cause 
is best appreciated in its precise objects 
and aims. Proud as we may be to tread 
where John Quincy Adams laads the way. 
there is a guide of more commanding au- 
thority found in the eternal law of Right, 
and the concurring mandate of the Con- 
stitution itself when properly interpreted, 
which teaches the duties of a good citizen. 
Such is the guide of the Republican party 
which, I sny fearlessly, whore most known, 
will be most trusted, and which, when 
understood in its origin, will be seen to be 
no accidental or fugitive organization, 
merely for an election, but an irresistible 
ne essity, which in the nature of things 
must be as permanent as the pretensions, 
moral and political, which it seeks to con- 
strain and counteract. 

Let us dwell, then, on the Republican 
party, its Origin, its Necessity, and its 
Permanence : 

All must admit that if no Republican 
party existed now — oven if that halcyon 
day so often promised by cajoling politi- 
cians had come, when the Slavery Ques- 
tion was settled — still there would be a 
political necessity for a great party of Op- 
position to act as a check on the Adminis 
tration A kindred necessity was once 
expressed by an eminent Entish states- 



man, "wlio gave as a toast, " A strong 
Administration and a strong Opposition." 
Parties are unknown in despotic countries. 
They belong to the macliinery of free 
governments. Tlirougli parties, public 
opinion is concentrated and directed. 
Througb parties, principles are maintained 
above men. And tlirougli parties, men in 
power are held to a just responsibility. 
But if ever there was occasion for such 
a party, it is now, when the corruptions 
of the Administration have been dragged 
to light by recent Committees of Congress. 
On this ground alone, good men might be 
summoned to rescue the Government of 
our country. 

It is now an attested fact that Mr. Bu- 
chanan became President through corrup- 
tion. Money, familiarly known as a " cor- 
ruption fund," first distilled in small drip- 
pingfe from clerks and petty ofRcials, was 
swollen by the larger contributions of 
merchants and contractors, and with this 
^accumulation votes were purchased in 
Philadelphia, enough to turn the election 
in that great metropolis, and in the chain 
of cause and effect, to assure the triumph 
of the Democratic candidate. I speak 
now only what has been proved. Fraudu- 
lent naturalization papers in blank, by 
which this was perpetrated, have been 
produced before a Committee of Congress. 
It was natural that an Administration thus 
corrupt in origin, should continue to exer- 
cise power through the same corruption 
by which power was gained ; but nothing 
else than that insensibility to acts of 
shame, which is bred by familiarity, can 
explain how all this should be done with 
such absolute indecency of exposure — 
wearing scarcely so much as a fig-leaf. 

A letter from a local politician, addressed 
to the President himself, urging without 
disguise the giving of ajlarge contract for 



machinery to a particular house in Phila- 
delphia, employing 450 mechanics, with a 
view to the approaching election, was sent 
to the Secretary of the Navy, with this 
indorsement, in a well-known hand-wri- 
ting, signed by well-known initials, " Sept. 
15, 1858. The inclosed letter from Col. 
Patterson of Philadelphia is submitted 
to the attention of the Secretary of the 
Navy. J. B." Thus did the President 
of the United States, in formal written 
words, now of record in the history of 
the countr}', recommend the employment 
of the public money, set apart for the 
public service, to influence an election. 
Here "was corruption as positive as when 
his supporters purchased votes in the 
streets. From one, learn all ; and from 
such a characteristic instance, learn the 
character of the Administration. But there 
are other well-known instances ; and the 
testimony before .the Congressional Com- 
mittees discloses the President on Sundays 
in secret conclave with one of his corrupt 
agents, piously occupied in discussing the 
chances of an election, and how its expen- 
ses were to be met, while, at the same 
time, like another Joseph Surface, he was 
uttering in public fine sentiments of po- 
litical morality, and lamenting the preva- 
lence of the very indecencies in which ho 
was engaged. 

It was natural that a President, who 
with professions of purity on the lips, made 
himself the pander of such vulgar cor- 
ruption, should stick at nothing needed to 
carry his purposes. I shall not dwell on 
the Lecompton Constitution ; but it be- 
longs to this chapter. You all know its 
wickedness. Concocted originally at Wash- 
ington, with the single purpose of fasten- 
ing Slavery upon the people of Kansas, it 
was by execrable contrivance so arranged 
a,s to prevent the people, when about to 



become a State, from A'oting on that ques- 
tion. Next, sanctioned by a convention of 
usurpers, who in no respect represented 
the peopk^ of Kansas ; then fraudulently 
submitted to the people for their votes, it 
was fraudulently adopted by stuffing bal- 
lot-boxes on a scale never before known 
— thus at the Delaware Crossing, where 
there v.'ere but forty-three legal voters, 
400 were returned ; at Oxford, where 
there were but forty-two legal voters, 1,000 
were returned ; and at Shawnee, where 
there were but forty legal voters, 1,200 
were returned. And yet this Constitution, 
disowned by the very Governor who had 
gone to Kansas as the agent of the Presi- 
dent — rotten with corruption — gaping with 
fraud — and steaming with iniquity, was at 
once recognized by the President, urged 
upon Congress in his Annual Message, and 
pressed for adoption bj all the appliances 
of unprincipled power. If the words of 
Jugurth-a, turning his back upon Eome, 
cannot be repeated, that all had a price, it 
was not from any forbearance in the Presi- 
dent. A single editor was offered the 
printing of \X\& Post-Office blanks,, worth 
at least $80,000, upon the condition that 
he should, by an editorial no larger than 
a man's hand, promise subserviency to the 
Administration. Bribes of office were 
added to bribes of money. As the votes 
of electors had already been purchased to 
make Mr. Buchanan President, the votes 
of Kepresentatives were now solicited to 
carry out his scheme of corruption, and 
the halls of Congress were changed into a 
political market-house, where men were 
bought by the head. Is not all this enough 
to arouse the indignation of the people % 

It is true that the President, whose 
power began in corruption, and who is the 
responsible author of the corruption by 
which his administration has been de- 



based, is no longer a candidate for office. 
Already judgment has begun. His own 
political party has discarded him The 
first avenging blow has been struck. In- 
corruptible history will do the rest. The 
tablet conspicuously erected in Genoa to 
expose the crimes of Doges, branding one 
as Fur Magmis and the other as JSIaxi- 
nms Latroman, will not be needed here. 
The exposed corrupter, the tyrant ensla- 
ver, and the robber of Human Freedom, 
cannot be forgotten. Unhappy President '. 
After a long career of public service, not 
only tossed aside, but tossed over to per- 
petual memory as an example to be 
shunned. Better for him the oblivion of- 
common life than the bad fame which he 
has won ' 

But, though not himself a candidate for 
office, his peculiar supporters, animated 
by his spirit, linked with him in all his 
misrule, are embodied as a party, and ask 
your votes. Simply to resist this combi- 
nation, and to save the Bcpublic from its 
degrading influence, would justify the for- 
mation of tlie Bepublican party ; and I 
doubt not tliat there are many who will be 
content to unite with us on this ground 
alone, anxious to put the National Govern- 
ment once again in pure hands. To all 
such, welcome I 

AVhile this consummation necessarily 
enters into the present purposes of the 
Bepublican party, while we naturally be- 
gin by insisting upon purity in the Gov- 
ernment, and make this one of our urgent 
demands, it is obvious that the quickening 
impulse of the party, is to be found in other 
purposes, which cannot pass away in a single 
election. The Republican party seeks to 
overthrow the Slave Oligarchyin the Nation- 
al Government, and especially at this mo- 
ment to stay its aggressions in the Territo- 
ries, which, through a corrupt interpreta- 






iS.t'.S""'^:.:';;-.--' ■ tii'" ""■ '••"-"'■ "•■ -'• «-■• '•- 



corruption of all kinds, can a better order 
of things prevail. It is out of slavery that 
all our griefs proceed ; nor can the cor- 
ruptions of the present Administration bo 
fully comprehended without considering^ 



Abolitionists, the honorary degree of Doc- 
tor of Laws. The Literature of the land, 
such as it was, agreed with the Colleges.' 
The Church, too, added its powerful vo'ice; 
and here, amid the diversities of relicrious 



trr ^ ^:!- !!--->-• - ■- - ::^;:r:;;rs 



fluence over our Government, reaching 
everywhere by subtle agencies or n7.orc 
subtle far-reaching example, but still in 
itself the original and all-sufficient activi- 
ty. As well attempt to explain the Gulf 
Stream without the Gulf of Mexico, or the 
origin of evil without the human heart, as 
attempt to explain the present degraded 
character of our National Goverament 



animated all. Quakers, Methodists, Pres- 
byterians, and Congregationalists, seemed 
almost to have vied with each other in 
this pious testirdony. 

The Constitution was adopted, but the 
iTord "slave" was not allowed to pollute 
Its text ; and this was in declared defer- 
ence to the prevailing opinion, which re- 
garded Slavery as temporary, destined 



w hut Slavery. As well attempt to soon to pass away. All looked forward to 
.nact tne play of Othello without the j this glad day, which seemed to be almost 
Moor. And permit me i, say that our at hand. In harmony with this expecta- 
Trarfare with these corruptions will be tion. Slavery was prohibited in all the ex- 
teebie unless we attack them in iheir isting territories of the Union, so that when 
^''^'!'^' , . I Washington, as first President of the Uni- 

-ihe subject IS so vast that I can under- ted States, at his inauguration here in 
take to expose it by glimpses only. New York, took his first oath to support 

At the beginning ot our history, Slavery the Constitution, the flag of the Republic 
,^^as universally admitted to be an Evil.- nowhere on the land within the jurisdic 
.^obody then so hardy as to vindicate it. | tion of Congress covered a single slave. 
in the Convention which framed the Con- 1 Little then did the Fatherjs dream that 
stitution, It was branded as '- a nefarious the Evil which they regarded with shame 
institution," or more mildly called simply and which they exerted themselves to pro- 
^' wrong;" and these generous voices came jhibit, would elevate its obscene crest as 
from the South as well as from the North. | it now does, and flaunt its obscene preten- 
Out of the Convention there was a similar j sions before i\iQ world. Little did they 
accord. I shall not quote the words of j dream that the Constitution, from whic\ 
Washington, Jefferson, or Franklin, or they had carefully excluded the very ^^-or./ 



Jay, for they are familiar to all. But as 
they spoke others spoke, and I might oc- 
CHpj the whole evening simply in recit- 



would, in defiance of reason and of com- 
mon sense, be held to protect the thin<y, 
so exceptionally that it could not be 



reached by Congressional prohibition, even I of South Carolina, "a triumph of the 
within Congressional jurisdiction. Little South," where in consideration of the ad- 
did they dream that the text, which they I mission of Missouri as a Slave State — thus 
left so pure and healthful, would, through ' securing an additional preponderance to 
corrupt interpretation, be swollen into I the Slave Power — it was stipulated that 
such n hideous Elephaniiasis. Slavery should be prohibited in certain 

Two circumstances, civilizing in them- i outlying territory, at that time trodden 
selves, have exercised an unexpected in- i only by savages. Then came a lull, du- 
fluencc- for American Slavery ; first, the , ring which the change was still at work, 
abolition of the slave-trade, which by tailing j until cotemporaneous with the abolition of 
away the supply has increased the value i Slavery in the British West Indies, the 
of slaves ; and secondly, the increased cul- discussion was lighted anew. Meanwhile 
tivation of c-otton stimulated b}^ the inven- slaves had augmented in price and slave 
tion of new machiner3^ The last has been j masters had become more decided in 
of especial moment. Indeed it is hardly j opinion. At first in timid deference to 
too much to say, that out of this slender j the world, they ventured on no defense o-f 
cotton fibre have been formed the manacles j Slavery in the abstract ; but a,t last, bold- 
of the slave. Thus, through sinister ac- j er grown under the lead of Mr. Calhoun, 
tivity, and the wickedness of men, is good • they threw aside all reserve, openly 
made the minister of wrong. Next after j assailed the opinions of the. Fathers, auda- 
Christopber Columbus, who, by his sub-jciously denied the self-evident truths of 
lime enterprise, opened the pathway to the j the Declaration of Indepcudeuce, and by 
New World, Eli Whitney, Avho discovered | formal resolution asserted the nevf dogma 
the cotton gin, has been indirectly and of Slavery in the Territories. This, was as 
unconsciously a chief agent in the bondage i late as 1S4I.' A letter from M?. Calhoun of 
of the African race on the North American that day, addressed to a member of the. 
continent; and surely a proper gratitude Alabama Legislature,, shows that there was 
for the advantages which we enjoy ia such j an element of policy in this exageration, 
large store from these two discoveries His desire was " to force the Slavery 
must prompt us to increased activity for | issue" on the North, believing that delay 
the welfare of those who, alas 1 have been! was dangerous, as the slave-masters were 
such losers, where we have been such I then relatively stronger, both morally and 
gainers. j politically, than they would ever be again. 

This change of opinion, so disastrous in At last the end has come. Slavery is 



its results, was gradual. Though easily 
detected in its successive stages, by the 
careful inquirer, it did not become mani- 



openly pronounced at one time " the black 
marble keystone of our National Arch ;" 
at another time " the corner-sto-ne of our 



fest to the whole country till 1820, when 1 Piepubliean edifice ;" then it is vaunted 
it burst forth in the Missouri ques-tion j as " the highest type of civilization ;." then 
Then for the first time Slavery openly ! as " a blessing to the master as well as 
showed itself violent, insolent, belligerent, the slave ;'' and then again " as ennobling- 
Freedom was cheeked, but saved some- ! to the master if not to the slave." It is 
thing by a compromise — called at the mo- 1 only the first step which costs, and there- 
ment of its adoption, by Charles Pinckney | fore the authors of these opinions, so 



shocking to the moral sense, do not hesi- 
tate at other opinions equally shocking to 
the reason -which pretend to find impossi- 
ble sanctions for Slavery in the Constitu- 
tion. Listening to these extravagances, 
who would not exclaim with Ben Jonson 
in the play ? — 



-' Grave fathers, lie's possest : again I say, 
J'ossest ; nay, if there be ])Ossessioa 
And obsession, he has both." 



And now, fellow-citizens, what is Slave- 
ry ? This is no question merely of cu- 
riosity or philanthropy ; for when the 
'^ National Government, which you and I at 
!! the North help to constitute, is degraded 
to be its instrument, and all the National 
■^ Territories are proclaimed open to its 
. Barbarism, and the Constitution itself is 
' perverted to sanction its pretensions, the 
i whole subject naturally, logically and 
necessarily enters into our discussion. It 
cannot be avoided; it cannot be blinked 
out of sight. Nay, you must pass upon it 
by your votes at the coming election. 
'' Futile is the plea that we at the North 
have nothing to do with Slavery. Granted 
I that we have nothing to do with it in the 
States ; we have much to do with all its 
irrational pretensions under the Constitu- 
tion, and just so long as these irrational 
pretensions are urged. Slavery must be 
discussed. It must be laid bare in its 
I enormity, precisely as though it were pro- 
i posed to plant it here in the streets of 
New York. Nor can such a wrong — foul 
in itself, and fouler still in its pretensions 
— be dealt with tamely. Tameness is 
surrender. And charity, too, may be 
misapplied. Forgiving those who tres- 
pass against us, I know not if we are 
called to forgive those who trespass 
against others ; to forgive those who tres- 



forgive those who trespass against a whole 
race ; to forgive those who trespass against 
the universal Human Family; finally to 
forgive those who trespass againt God. 
Such trespassers now exist among us — 
possessing the organization of party — pos- 
sessing the control of the National Gov- 
ernment — constituting at this moment a 
colossal Power — and " what seems its 
head the likeness of a President has on." 
Surely if ever there was a moment when 
every faculty should be bent to the ser- 
vice, and all should be invigorated by an 
inspiring zeal — falsely rejected by the 
heartless diplomatist — it is now, while the 
battle between Civilization and Barbarism 
is still undecided, and you are summoned 
to resist the last desperate shock. To 
this work I am not equal ; but I do not 
shrink from the duties of my post. Alas ! 
human language is gentle, and the human 
voice is weak. Words only are mine, 
when I ought to command thunderbolts. 
Voice only is mine, when, like the ancient 
Athenian, I ought to carry the weapons of 
Zeus on the tongue. 

What then, I repeat, is Slavery I The 
occasion forbids details ; but enough must 
be presented to place this outrage in its 
true light — as something worse even than 
a constant state of war where the master 
is the constant aggressor. And hero I 
put aside for the moment all the talcs 
which reach us from the house of bondage; 
all the cumulative, crushing testimony, 
alike from slaves and from their masters ; 
all the barbarous incidents which have 
helped to arouse a yet too feeble indigna- 
tion ; in short, all the glimpses which 
have come to us from this mighty Blue 
Beard's chamber. All these I put aside, 
not because they are of little moment in 



pass against the Republic ; to forgive i exhibiting the true character of Slavery, 
those who trespass against civilization ; to ) but because I desire to arraign Slavery 



on grounds above all controversy, im- 
peachment or sudpicion, even from slave- 
masters themselves. Not on triumphant 
story, adorned by the genius of vroman ; 
not even on indisputable facts do I now 



relation of parent and child ; for the infant 
legally belongs, not to the mother who 
bore it, but to the master who bought it. 

Foiirthlij, the absolute denial ofinstruc- 
tio?i; for the master may always, at his 



accuse Slavery ; but on its character as [ own rude discretion, prevent his victim 
revealed in its own simple definition of it- \ from learning to read, and thus shut upon 

con- 1 him those gates of knowledge which open 
such vistas on earth and in Heaven. 



self. Out of its own mouth do 
demn it. 

By the laiv of Slavery, man created in 
the image of God, fearfully and wonder- 
fully made, with sensibilities of pleasure 
and pain, with sentiments of love, with as- 
pirations for improvement, with a sense of 
prqoerty, and with a soul like ourselves, 
is despoiled of his human character, and 
declared to be a mere chattel " to all in- 
tents and purposes whatsoever." I do 
not stop to give at length all its odious 
words ; you are doubtless familiar with 
them. The Heathen idea of Aristotle is 
repeated — " a tool with a soul." But in 
this simple definition is contained the 
whole incalculable wrong of Slavery ; for 
out of it, as from an inexhaustible foun- 
tain, are derived all the unrighteous pre- 
rogatives of the master. These are five 
in number, and I know not which is most 
revolting. 

First, there is the pretension that man 
can hold propertij in man, forgetful that, 
by a law older than all human law, fore- 
most stands the indefeasible right of every 
man to himself. 

Secondly, the absolute nullification of the 
relation of husha^id ami ivife, so that all 
who are called slaves aredelivered over to 
concubinnge or prostitution, it may be with 
each other, or it may be with their mas- 
ters ; but with whomsoever it may be, it 
is the same, for with slaves marriage is 
impossible, as they are merely " coupled," 
never married. 

Thirdly, the absolute nullification oftlie 



And 

Fifthly, the absolute robbery of the la- 
bor of another and of all its fruits ; for- 
getful that by the same original law under 
which every man has a title to himself, he 
has also a title to the fruits of his own la- 
bor, amounting in itself to a sacred prop- 
erty, which no person, liowever called, 
whether despot or master, can righteously 
appropriate. 

Such are the five essential elements of 
Slavery. Look at them, and you will con- 
fess that this institution stands forth as a 
hateful assemblage of unquestionable 
wrongs under the sanction of existing law. 
Take away any one of these, and just to 
that extent Slavery will cease to exist. 
Take away all, and the Slavery Question 
will be settled. But this assemblage be- 
comes more hateful still when its unmis- 
takeablc single motive is detected, which 
is simply this — to comjKl Labor xoithout 
wages. Incredible as it may seem, it can- 
not be denied that the right of a man to 
himself — the right of a husband to his wife 
— the right of a parent to his child — the 
right of a man to instruction — the right of 
a man to the fruits of his own labor — all 
these supreme rights, by the side of which 
other rights are petty, are trampled down 
in order to organize that five-headed sel- 
fishness, pi-actically maintained by the 
lash, which, look at it as you will, has for 
its single object COMPULSORY LA- 
BOR WITHOUT WAGES. 



9 



That Slavery thus constituted, can be 
good for the master, is one of the halluci- 
nations of the system — something like the 
hallucination of the opium-eater. Fasci- 
nating, possibly, it may be for a time, but 
debasing and destructive it must be in the 
end. That slave-masters should be violent 
and tyrannical — that they should be re- 
gardless of all rights, especially where 
Slavery is in question — and that the higher 
virtues of character should fail in them — 
all this Blight be inferred, even in the 
absence of evidence, according to the irre- 
sistible law of cause and effect. No man 
can do injustice with impunity. He may 
not suffer in worldly condition ; but he 
must suffer in his own nature. And the 
very unconsciousness in which he lives 
aggravates the unhappy influence. Nor 
can familiarity with the scenes of Slavery 
fail to harden the heart. 

Persons become accustomed to scenes 
of brutality, till they witness them with 
indifference. Hogarth, that master of 
human nature, has portrayed this tendency 
in his picture of a dissection at a Medical 
College, where the President maintains 



does something intrinsically barbarous or 
mean, he does not blush to find it fame. 

Here, again, I forbear all details. The 
reason of the intellect blending with the 
reason of the heart ; the testimony of his- 
tory fortified by the testimony of good 
men ; an array of unerring figures linked 
with an array of unerring facts ; all these 
I might employ. And I might proceed to 
show how this barbarous influence begin- 
ning on the plantation, diffuses itself 
throughout society, enters into official con- 
duct, and even mounts into Congress, 
where for a long time it has exercised a 
a vulgar domination, trampling not only 
on all the amenities of debate, but abso- 
lutely on Parliamentary law. But I shall 
not open this chapter. 

But there is one frightful circumstance, 
unhappily of frequent occurrence, which 
proclaims so clearly the character of the 
social system bred by Slavery that I shall 
be pardoned for adducing it. I refer to 
ihe roasting of slaves alive at the stake ; 
one has been roasted only recentl}^ ; not 
after a public trial, according to the forms 
of lnw, as at the fires of Smithfield, but by 
the dignity of insensibility over a corpse | a lawless crowd, suddenly assembled, who 
which he regards simply as the object of ! in this way make themselves the ministers 
a lecture. And Horace Walpole, who j of a cruel vengeance. This Barbarism, 
admired the satire of this picture, finds in | which seems to have become a part of the 



it an illustration of the truth, that " the 
legal habitude of viewing shocking scenes 
hardens the human mind, and renders it 
unfeeling." And this simple truth, in its 
most general application, illustrates the 
condition of the slave-master. How can 
he show sensibility for the common rights 



customary law of Slavery may well cover 
us all with humiliation, when we reflect 
that it has already been renounced by the 
copper-colored savages of our continent; 
while, during the present centur}', more 
instances of it have occurred among our 
slave-masters than we know of amonij our 



of fellow-citizens, who sacrifices flaily the savages since that early day when Capt. 
most sacred rights of others "iuerely to I Smith was saved from a kindred fate by the 
secure labo?- iviihoKt wages. With him a tenderness of PocaJiontas. Perhaps no 



false standard is necessarily established, 
bringing with it a blunted moral sense, 
and clouded perceptions, so that when he 



other usage reveals with such fearful dis- 
tinctness the deep-seated, pervading influ- 
ence of Slavery, offensive to civilization, 



10 



hostile to law itself, by virtue of which it 
pretends to live, insulting to humanity, 
shocking to decency, and utterly heedless 
of all rights, foums or observances, in the 
maintenance of its wicked power. 

Let me not be unjust to slave-masters. 
Some there are, I doubt not, of happy 
natures, uncorrupted by the possession of 
tyrannical power, who render the condition 
of their slaves endurable, and in private 
virtues emulate the graces of civilization ; 
but the good in these cases comes from 
the masters, notioith standing Slavery. 
And, besides, there are the great exam- i 
pies of the Fathers of the Kepviblic, who 
looking down upon Slavery and regarding 
it as an Evil, were saved from its contami- 
nation. To all these I render heart-felt 
homage. But their exceptional virtues 
eanuot save from condemnation the essen- 
tial wrong which I now expose. 

Such, fellow-citizens, is Slavery as it 
appears in its law, and also in its influence 
on society. End as it is, if it modestly 
kept at home — if it did not stalk into the 
National jurisdiction, and enter into the 
National Government, xcithin the reach of 
our votes, I should not summon you on 
this occasion to unite against it ; for 
whatever may be the promptings of sym- 
pathy and of godlike philanthrophy, noth- 
ing is clearer than that our political duties 
depend simply upon our political respon- 
sibilities ; and since we are not politically 
responsible for Slavery in Charleston, or 
in Constantinople, so in neither place have 
we any political duties in regard to it. 
Lament it wherever it exists we must, and 
surround its victims with our prayers, but 
our action, while inspired by these senti- 
ments, must rest within the landmarks of 
the law and the Constitution. 

And hero the field is ample. Indeed, 
if Slavery existed nowhere within the na- 



tional jurisdiction, as it clearly does, our 
duties Avouid still be urgent, to grapple 
with that pernicious inilucnce, which 
through an Oligarehical Combination of 
slave-masters, unknown to the Constitu- 
tion, never anticipated by its founders, and 
existing in defiance of their example, has 
entered into and possessed the National 
Government, like an Evil Spirit. This 
influence, which wielding at will all the 
powers of the National Government — even 
those of the judiciary itself — has become 
formidable to Freedom everywhere, clutch- 
ing A'iolently at the Territories, and 
menacing the Free States themselves — as 
witness the claim still undecided in the 
Court of the last resort of a citizen of Vir- 
cinia to hold slaves in New York on the 

o 

way to Texas ; this influence, now so 
vaulting, was for a long time unobserved, 
even while exercising a controlling power* 
Ki first timid and shy, from an undoubted 
consciousness of its guilt, it avoided dis- 
cussion ; but it was determined in its pol- 
icy. The Southern Senator who boasted 
that for sixty years the Slave States had 
governed the country, knew well their 
constant inferiority to the Free States in 
population, wealth, manufactures, com- 
merce, schools, churches, libraries and all 
the activities of a true civilization ; knew 
well that they had contributed nothing to 
the literature of the country,, even in 
political economy and the science of Gov- 
ernment, which they have so vehemently 
professed, except the now forgotten " forty 
bale theory ; " knew well that by no prin- 
ciple of justice could this long predomi- 
nance be explained ; but ho forgot to 
confess the secret agency. True it is that 
in the game of office and legislation, the 
Slave States have always vron. They 
have played with loaded dice — loaded ^mth 
Slavenj. The trick of the Automaton 



u 



Chess Player, for so long a time an in- 
compreliensible marvel, has been repeated 
■with similar success. Let the Free States 
make a move on the board and the Slave 
States have said " check," Let them 
strive for Free-Trade, and the cry has 
been "check." Let them jump toward 
Protection, and again it is " check." Let 
them move toward Internal Improvements 
*and the cry is still "check." Whether 
forward or backward, to the right or left, 
wherever they moved, the Free States 
have been pursued by an inexorable 
" check." But the secret is now discover- 
ed. Amid the well-arranged machinery, 
which seemed to give motion to the victo- 
rious Chess-Player, was concealed a mo- 
tive force \i\\\(i\\ has not been estimated; 
I mean the Slave Power. It is the Slave 
Power which has been the perpetual vic- 
tor, saying always "check" to the Free 
States. And it is the Slave Power which 
for sixty years, according to the boast of 
the Senator, has governed the country. 

The actual number of slaveholders was 
for a long time unknown, and on this ac- 
count was naturally exagerated. It was 
often represented to be very great On 
one occasion, a distinguished representa- 
tive from Massachusetts, whose name will 
be ever cherished for his devotion to hu- 
man rights — I mean the late Horace Mann 
— was rudely interrupted on the floor of 
Congress by a member from Alabama, 
who averred that the number of slavehold- 
ers was as many as 3,000,000. At that 
time there was no official document by 
which this extravagance could be correct- 
ed. But at last we have it. The late 
census, taken in 1850, shows that the 
whole number of this peculiar class — em- 
bracing men, women, and children, all 
told, who are so unfortunate as to hold 
slaves — was only 347,000 ; and of this 



number, the large part are small slave- 
holders, leaving only 91,000 persons as 
the owners of the great mass of slaves, 
and the substantial representatives of this • 
class. And yet this small Oligarchy, 
odious in origin, without any foundation in 
that justice which is the essential base of 
every civilized association — stuck together 
only by confederacy in all the five-headed 
wrong of Slavery — and constituting in it- 
self a Ma^niwi Latjocinium — has, bj^ the 
confession of one of its own leaders, for 
sixty years governed the Republic. To 
this end two things have concurred. First, 
its associated w'ealth, being the asserted 
value of its human flesh, constituting a 
flagitious capital of two thousand millions 
of dollars ; and secondly, its peculiar rep- 
resentation in the House of Representa- 
tives, where, under the three-fifths rule 
of the Constitution, ninety members actu- 
ally hold their seats, by virtue in part of 
this flagicious capital. Thus are the slave- 
masters an enormous Corporation, or Joint 
Stock Company, by the side of which the 
United States Bank, with its petty thirty 
millions of capital, and without any pecu- 
liar representation, is dwarfed into insig- 
nificance- 

I feel humbled when I dwell on the 
amazing disproportion of offices usurped 
by this Oligarchy. From the beginning, 
all the great posts of the Republic — the 
Presidency, the Vice-Presidency, seats in 
the Cabinet, seats in the Supreme Court, 
the Presidency of the Senate, the Speaker- 
ship — seem to have been almost perpetu- 
ally in their hands At this moment, the 
Free States, with double the population 
of the Slave States, have only four out of 
the nine Judges of the Supreme Court ; 
and of these four, it must be said three 
are Northern men with Southern princi- 
ples. And in the humbler places at the 



12 



Departments, the same extraordinary dis- 
proportion prevails. Out of the whole num- 
ber there employed, 421 are from the 
Free States, but mostly with Southern 
principles, and 806 from the Slave States. 
These instances are typical. There is 
nothing in the National Government which 
the Oligarchy docs not appropriate. Down 
to our day, it has held the keys of every 
office, from the President to the humblest 
Post-master, compelling all to do its bid- 
ding It orj/anizos Cabinets. It orgau- 
izcs Courts. It directs the Army and 
Navy. It manages every department of 
public business. It presides over the 
census. It controls the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, founded by the generous charity 
of a foreigner, to promote the interests of 
mankind. And it subsidizes the national 
press, alike in the national capital and in 
the remotest village of the North. 

In maintaining its power, the Slave 
Oligarchy has applied a test for of&ce very 
diiFerent from that of Jefferson : "Is he 
honest? Is he capable] Is he faithful 
to the Constitution?" These things are all 
forgotten now in the single question, which 
sifrnalizes the ereat change which has 
taken place, "Is he faithful to Slavery?" 
With arrogant ostracism, it excludes from 
every national office all who cannot respond 
to this test. So complete and irrational 
has this tyranny become, that at this 
moment while 1 now speak, could Wash- 
in^'ton, or Jefferson, or Franklin, or John 
Jay, once more descend from their spheres 
above, to mingle in our affairs, and bless 
us with their wisdom, not one of them, 
with his recorded, unrctracted opinions on 
Slavery could receive a nomination for the 
Presidency from either fraction of the 
divided Democratic party, or from that 
other political combination, known as the 
Union party; nor, stranger still, could 



cither of these sainted patriots, whose 
names alone open a perpetual fountain of 
gratitude in all your hearts, be confirmed 
by the Senate of the United States for 
any political function whatever, not even 
for the local office of Post-master. What 
I now say amid your natural astonishment, 
I have often said before in addressing the 
people, and I have more than once uttered 
from my scat in the Senate, and no man 
there has made answer, for no man who 
has sat in its secret sessions, and there 
learned the test, which is practically ap- 
plied, could make answer; and I ask you 
to accept this statement as my testimony 
derived from the experience which has 
been my lot. Yes. fellow-citizens, had 
this test prevailed in the earlier days, 
Washington — first in war, first in peace, 
first in the hearts of his countrymen, 
could not have been created generalissimo 
of the American forces ; Jefferson could 
not have taken his place on the Committee 
to draft the Declaration of Independence; 
and Franklin could not have gone forth to 
France, with the commission of the infant 
Rej^ublic, to secure the invaluable alliance 
of that ancient kingdom ; nor could John 
Jay, as first Chief Justice, have lent to 
our judiciary the benignant grace of his 
name and character. 

Standing on the bent necks of an en- 
slaved race — with four millions of human 
beings as the black marble Caryatides to 
support its power, the Slave Oligarchy 
erects itself into a lordly Caste which 
brooks no opposition. Dut when I speak 
of Caste I mean nothing truly polite ; and 
when I speak of Oligarchy I mean nothing 
truly aristocratic As despotism is simply 
an abuse of monarchy, so an Oligarchy is 
simply an abuse of aristocracy, unless it 
be that most vulgar of all, the " aristocracy 
of the skin.'' Derived from Slavery, and 



IC 



having the interests of Slavery always in 
view, our Oligarchy must naturally take 
its character from this five-lteadcd wrong. 

■ Things bad begun make strong themselves by :11." 

All that is bad in Slavery— its audacity, 
its immorality, its cruelty, its robbery, its 
meanness, its ignorance, its barbarous 
disregard of human .'ights, and its barba- 
rous disregard of human obligation, must 
all be reproduced in its representative. 
It the Oligarchy hesitates at nothing to 
.serve its selfish ends, it simply acts in 
harmony with Slavery, from which it draws 
its life-blood. If in grasp of power it is 
like the hunchback Eichard ; il in false- 
hood it copies lago and if in character it; 
is as brutal as the untaught Caliban, 

• Which any print of goodness will not take, 
Being capable of all ill :" 

Aye, if in all these respects it surpasses 
its prototypes, be not astonished, fellow 
citizens, for it acts simply according to the 
original law of its birth, and the inborn 
necessities of its being. 

The soul sickens in contemplating the 
acts of dishonest tyranny which have been 
perpetrated by this domineering power. 
I cannot give their history now. But 
looking at the old Missouri Compromise, 
fbu-nded on the admission of Missouri as a 
Slave State, and in consideration thereof 
the Prohibition of Slavery in other outly- 
ing Territory, and seeing how — after an 
acquiesence of Thirty-two years, and the 
irreclaimable possession by Slavery of its 
especial share in the provisions of this 
Compromise — in violation of every obliga- 
tion of honor, compact and good neighbor- 
hood, and in contemptuous disregard of 
the out-gushing sentiments of an aroused 
North — this time-honored Prohibition was 
overturned, and the vast region now known 
as Kansas and Nebraska, was opened to 
Slavery ; looking next at the juggling bill 



by which this was accomplished, declaring 
that its object was to leave the people 
'perfectly free to form their domestic 
institutions in their own way" — and seeing, 
how, in spite of these express words, the 
courageous settlers there were left a prey 
to invading hordes from Missouri, who 
ontermg the Territory organized a Usur- 
pation, which by positive law proceeded 
to fasten Slavery upon that beautiful soil, 
and to surround it with a code of death ; 
looking at the Lecompton Constitution, 
that master-piece of wicked contrivance, 
by which this same people, in organizing 
for a State, were fraudulently prevented 
from passing upon the question of Slavery 
— and seeing how the infamous counter- 
feit, though repudiated by the people, was 
openly adopted by the President, and by 
him corruptly urged upon Congress, with 
all the power of his Administration ; look- 
ing at these things and others which fill 
the mind, 1 feel how vain it is to expect 
truce or compromise with the Slave Oli- 
garchy Punic in faith no compact can 
bind it while all interpretations -of the 
Constitution, friendly to freedom, though 
sanctioned by Court and Congress in con- 
tinuous precedents, are unceremoniously 
rejected. Faust, in the incomparable 
poem of Goethe, on being told that in Hell 
itself the laws prevail, says : 

"Now that I like , so then, one may, in fact, 
Conclude a binding compact with you, gentry I" 

To which Mej)histophiles replies : 

'• Whatever promise in our books finds entry, 
We strictly carry into acl." 

But no compact or promise binds the 
gentry of Slavery — although entered again 
and again in their books ! 

Of course, fellow-citizens, you arc now 
ready to see that the corruptions by which 
the present Administration has been de^ 



14 



graded arc the natural offspring of the 
immorality of Slavery. They have all 
occarred in sustaining the policy of the 
Oligarchy, and in the case of the Lecomp- 
ton Constitution, in a direct effort to fasten 
Slavery upon a distant territory, and they 
are all marked by the effrontery of 
Slavery. Smollett attributes the peculiar 
profligacy of England at a particular pe- 
riod to the demoralization of the South 
Sea Bubble ; but ^\^hat is such a fugitive 
influence compared with Slavery, which 
indeed if it were not a crime, might well 
be called a Bubble % Surely a Govern- 
ment which vindicates the sale of human 
beincs need not hesitate to purchase votes 
whether at the polls or in Congress. The 
two transactions belong to the same family, 
though unquestionably the last is the least 
reprehensible. 

Fellow citizens, would you arrest these 
corruptions, and the disastrous influence 
from which they spring, involving nothing 
less than civilization on this continent, 
the Republican party tells you how, and 
ia telling you how, it vindicates at once 
its origin and its necessity. The work 
must be done, and there is no other 
organization by which it can be done. A 
party with such an origin and such a 
necessity cannot be for a day or for this 
election only. It cannot be less perma- 
nent than the hostile Influence which it is 
formed to counteract. Therefore, just so 
long as the present false theories of 
Slavery prevail, whether concerning its 
character— morally, economically and so- 
cially—or concerning its prerogatives un- 
der the Constitution, and just so long as 
the Slave Oligarchy, which is the sleep- 
less and unhesitating agent of Slavery in 
all its pretensions, continues to exist as a 
political power, the Republican party must 
endure. If bad men conspire for Slavery, 



food men must combine for Freedom ; nor 
can the Holy W'ar be ended until the 
Barbarism now dominant in the Republic 
is overthrown, and the Pagan power is 
driven from our Jerusalem. And when 
this triumph is won, securing the imme- 
diate object of our organization, the Re- 
publican party will not die, but, purified 
by its long contest with Slavery, and filled 
with higher life, it will be lifted to yet 
other efforts for the good of man. 

At present the work is plain before us. 
It is simply to elect our candidates; 
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, whose ability 
so conspicuously shown in his own State 
I attracted at once the admiration of ths 
I whole country ; whose character no breath 
ihas touched, and whose heart is large 
I enough to embrace the broad Republic and 
I all its people — him you will elect Presi- 
I dent ; and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, 
whose clear head, firm principles, and 
ample experience none who sit with him 
in the Senate Chamber can contest — him 
you will elect Ylce-Presldent. Electing 
these, we shall put the National Govern- 
ment — at least in its Executive department 
— openly and actively on the side of Free- 
dom ; and this alone will be of incalculable 
influence — not only in itself, but as the 
harbinger of the Future. 

First and foremost, we shall save the 
Territories from the five-headed Barbar- 
ism of Slavery, keeping them in their nor- 
mal c©nditlou, as they came from the hand 
of God, free — with Freedom written on the 
soil and engraved on the rock, while the 
winds will whisper it in the trees, the 
rivers will murmur it in their flow, and all 
nature echo it in joy unspeakable. 

Next we shall save the country from 
the crying infamy of the slave-trade, 
whose opening anew, as now menaced, is, 
indeed, but a logical consequence of the 



15 



t 



new theories of Slavery. If Slavery be 
the "blessing-' it is vaunted, then must 
the slave-trade be benificent, and they 
^ho ply it with the fiercest activity must 
take their places amono- the missionaries 
and saints of humanity. 

Next we shall save the Constitution at 
least within the sphere of Executive 
mfluence, from outrage and perversion ■ 
so that the President will no longer lend I 
himself to that wildest pretension of the '' 
Slave Oligarchy, as Mr. I^uchanan has ' 
done, bydcclaring that Slavery is carried 
under the Constitution into all Territories 
and that it now exists in Kansas as firmly 
as in South Carolina. As out of nothin-. 
can come nothing, so out of the nothin- in 
the Constitution on this subiect can be'dc- 
rived no support for-this inordinate preten- 
sion, which may be best dismissed in that 
classical similitude by which the ancient 
Komans rebuked a groundless folly, when 
they called it a.sss uml—ydncli h some- 
thing that doe3 not exist— and plainly said 
to Its author, asi?ii lanam qiucris ( You 
Sc-ther ass's tvool.') \ 

Next we shall help to save the Dcci-^i-- j 
tion of Independence, now dishonored and < 
disowned in Ks essential life-givino- truth— I 
the EqualUy of Man. This tranlcendant ' 
principle, whicli appears twice at the Crea- 
tion-first, when God said, " Let us make 
man m our own image," and secondly in 
the Unity of the Eace, then divinely'es- 
tabhshed ; which appears arjain in the Gos- 
pel when it was said. " God that made the 
worla and all things therein, hath made of I 
one blood all nations of men ; " which ap 
pears again in the primal reason of the ' 
world, anterior to all institutions and laws. I 
belongs to those self-evident truths, some- ' 
times called axioms, which no man ' can 
question without exposing to question 
his own intelligence or honesty. As 



well deny arithmetically that two and 
two make four, or deny geometrically 
bat a straight line is ih, shortest distance 
between two points, as deny the axiomatic, 
self-evident, beaming truth, that all men 
are equal. As of the sun in the heavens- 
blmd 13 he who cannot perceive it. Of 
course, this principle, uttered in a Decla- 
ration of Rights, is applicable simply to 
I rights; and it is a childish sophism to 
I allege against it the obvious inequalities of 
jform, character , and faculties. As an 
j axiom, it admits no exception; for' it 'is 
I the essence of an axiom, whether in geo- 
i metry or in morals, to be universal As au 
abstract truth, it is also without exception 
^ according to the essence of such truth' 
j And finally as a self-evident truth, so 
j announced in the Declaration, it is without 
I cxceptiop.. for only such truth can be self 
evident. Thus, whether as axiom, as 
abstract truth, or self-evident truth, it is 
always universal. In vindicating this' prin- 
ciple, the Republican party have a grate - 
Iful duty to which they arc moved alike by 
justice to a much-injured race, .excluded 
from its protection, and by justice to the 

Fathers, whose well-chosen Avords fit 

[foundation for an empire- have been 
I turned into a mockery ; nor can the mad- 
j ncss of the Propagandists of Slavery be 
better illustrated than in this assault eu 
the Declaration of Independence, stulti- 
fying the Fathers for no other purpose 
than to clear the wa/ for their five-headed 
j system of Compulsory Labor icithout 
Wages.. 

And, finally, we shall help to expel the 
Slave Oligarchy from all its seats of na- 
tional power, and drive it back within the 
States. This alone is worthy of every 
effort ; for until this is done, nothing else 
can be completely done. In vain you 
seek economy or purity in the National 



16 



Government; in vain you seek improve- 
ment of rivers and harbors ; in vain you 
seek homesteads on the public lands for 
actual settlers ; in vain you seek reform 
in administration ; in vain you seek dig 
nity and peace in our foreign relations, 
with just sympathy for struggling Free- 
dom everywhere ; while this selfish and 
corrupt power holds the National purse 
and the National sword. Prostrate the 
Slave Oligarchy, and the door will be 
open to all generous principles. Prostrate 
the Slave Oligarchy, and liberty will be- 
come, in fact, as in law, the normal condi- 
tion of all the national Territories Pros- 
trate the Slave Oligarchy, and the National 
Government will be at length divorced 
from Slavery, and the national policy will 
be changed from Slavery to Freedom — j 
Prostrate the Slave Oligarchy, and the I 
North will be no longer the vassal of the 
South. Prostrate the Slave Oligarchy,! 
and the North will be admitted to its just ! 
share in the trusts and honors of the PiC- 1 
imblic! Prostrate the Slave Oligarchy, 
and a mighty victory of Peace will be 
Avon, whose influence on the Future of our 
country, and of mankind, no imagination 
can paint I 

Prostrated, exposed, and permanently 
expelled from ill-gotten power, the Oligar- 
chy will soon cease to exist as a political 
combination. Its final doom may be post- 
poned, but it is certain La«?iguishing, it 
may live yet longer; but it will surely 
die. Yes, fellow-citizens, surely, it will 
(YiQ — -when disappointed in its purposes — 
driven back within the States, and con- 
strained within these limits — it can no 
longer rule the Picpublic as a plantation 
of slaves at home ; can no longer menace 



the Territories with its five-headed device 
to compel Labor toithout Wages ; can no 
longer fasten upon the Constitution an 
interpretation which makes merchandise 
of men, and gives a disgraceful immunity 
to brokers of human flesh and butchers of 
human hearts ; and when it can no longer 
grind flesh and blood, groans and sighs, 
the tears of mothers and the cries of child- 
ren, into the cement of a barbarous politi- 
cal Power ! Surely, then, in its retreat, 
smarting under the indignation of an 
aroused people and the concurring judg- 
ment of the civilized world, it must die — 
it may be, as a poisoned rat dies of rage 
in its hole I 

Meanwhile, all good omens are ours. 
The work cannot stop. Quickened by the 
triumph now at hand — with a Pepublican 
President in power — State after State 
quitting the condition of a Territory and 
! spurning Slavery, will be welcomed into 
iour Plural Unit, and, joining hands to- 
' o-cther, will become a belt of fire girt about 
Uhe Slave States, within which Slavery 
must die ; or, happier still, joining hands 
to-T-ethcr, they will become lo the Slave 
States a zone of Freedom, radiant like the 
ancient cestus of Beauty, with transform- 
ing power. 

It only remains that we should speed 
these good influences. Others may dwell 
on the Past as secure. Put to my mind, 
under the laws of a beneficent God, the 
future also is secure— ow the single con- 
dition that we press forward in the work 
with heart and soul— forgetting self- 
turning from the temptations of the hour — 
and, intent only on the cause, 

«' With mean compliance ne'er betray our trust, 
Kor be so civil as to jjrove unjust " 



ISSUED^BY THE ^'yOUNG MEN'S 'rvEPUBLICAN UNION OF NEW-YORK. 

ROOMS. STUYVESANT INSTITUTE, C59 BROADWAY. 



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